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Aleksandra Zerkova
Obavnik Kommander 'Aleksandra Zerkova '''is a Greylord warcaster in the Khadoran military.For years the Greylords Covenant has plundered crypts and forgotten tombs for ancient secrets and weapons to employ in the name of the Motherland. Aleksandra Zerkova is among the most ambitious and ruthless of these occult researchers. She has become a living repository of esoteric and unholy lore.Forces of Warmachine: Khador Command MK3 Through her fearsome reputation, ruthless tactics, and occult knowledge, Aleksandra Zerkova has scaled the ranks of the Greylords Covenant faster than any believed possible. Her willingness to utilize any knowledge available has made her increasingly dangerous. For Zerkova, military protocols and conventional morality are weaknesses to exploit rather than principles to be followed. Time and again she has proven to be a master of the occult as well as of espionage. History Aleksandra Zerkova was born on the outskirts of Ondrovo, a town in the southern reaches of the Khardoska Volozk, in 572 AR to Grigory and Ludmilla Zerkova. The Zerkovas were envied and feared among northerners and southerners alike. This long line of distinguished officers has contributed to the strategic legacy taught at the Druzhina, Khador’s officer academy. It was a Zerkova who led the attacks against Ord during the Second Expansion War, and Ord still remembers the Zerkovas as sadistic villains. Even some Khadorans, associate the family with an obsession with lost secrets and dubious roads to power. For the last four generations in particular, an interest in occult studies has gone hand in hand with their patriotic zeal.No Quarter #61 Young Aleksandra combed the expansive library of her family’s estate, and from a young age her father set her to the mastery of dead languages and at the age of eight the first signs of arcane ability manifested. Aeniv Rolonovik a family friend of the Zerkova family as well as a member of Greylord Covenant a future Great Prince sent a private mentor for Zerkova. After the first months of training, the Greylord delivered a small laborjack and trained her to control it for three years after which she was sent to the Greylords compound in Khardov. While the Khadoran law required all warcasters to the Khadoran military and hand them over for officer training after instructing them on the fundamentals of arcane control. Zerkova's warcaster talent going unreported for several years. During her final years of training in Khardov, she was already acting like a full member of the Covenant. She took numerous expeditions to Orgoth ruins concealed beneath the mines of Khardov and many other locations in the Khadoran interior under Aeniv Rolonovik. The most significant of these an Orgoth relic known as the Eye of Uld Vroggen, a polished orb of black stone rumored to have given those who ruled from the former Orgoth capital insight into the activities of their agents at a great distance. Most of the reports regarding these early expeditions were subsequently “lost.” When the Greylords finally released Zerkova to the the Druzhina, she was already eighteen. She remained at the Druzhina for just two years. Zerkova’s time at the military academy seems far from typical, even for one with her gifts displaying exemplary knowledge and skills. However the Prikaz Chancellery noted considerable cause for concern and reported her for disregard for rank and breech of protocol, ties with powerful Cabals within the Covenant and members who were known Thamarites. Several eleven newly initiated members of the Covenant who participated in several expeditions with Zerkova were reported as having disappeared and are presumed dead. She also had access to the extensive archive at the Khardov compound which was only allowed to those ranked koldun or higher. However the officer than wrote the report also disappeared, it was believed that Zerkova had powerful allies even she did not know existed. After her training at the Druzhina she received an officer’s commission as a kovnik; the subsequent completion of her initial warcaster proving missions awarded her the ranks of magziev and kommander. Upon receiving her full warcaster rank, Zerkova was assigned to the 3rd Army under the supervision of the 5th Division’s Kommandant Konstan Zhukovy, responsible for the border legions. She would be rotated among the various border legions over the next decade, but mostly with the 3rd Border Legion, know for its ominous reputation and rumored association with Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch. Zerkova’s position granted her posts in remote and unexpected locations, though she often disappeared for extended periods of time to conduct expeditions on behalf of the Greylords. Some of these missions were properly documented while others were apparently covert. This extended service to the Greylords became a point of contention between Khador’s military and the Covenant but these complaints fell on deaf ears or were met with excuses from the Greylords Covenant, who often claimed Zerkova to be unreachable. When Zerkova did present herself for active duty, however, her ruthless nature and decisiveness on the battlefield proved a boon for Khador, a fact that made the her absences felt all the more keenly by the military. Zerkova spent the better portion of 600 AR stationed at Port Vladovar where there was no pressing need for a warcaster in the city at this time. During one expedition she took a ship named ''Royal Copper departing from Port Vladovar for Berck with a military escort and in Ord she transfered to another ship, The Forsworn. The Forsworn had made a name for itself as a merchant vessel, primarily running spices and other luxuries up the coast from Zu on behalf of the Berck Imports House, though in truth The Forsworn spent much of its time smuggling goods in and out of disreputable ports along the Broken Coast. When the ship departed Berck on Casteus 22nd on an extended journey to the Scharde Islands and finally to the ruins of the ancient city of Acrennia. During this journey she recovered the Rod of Whispers an Orgoth relic is rumored to whisper dark secrets to any who draw near in an effort to ensnare a wielder once used by the powerful Orgoth sorcerer Ostrovhin, who was slain when Cryx invaded a significant Orgoth stronghold on Garlghast Island. By Golven 23rd all of Zerkova's comrades had been slain during various expeditions across the Scharde Islands and what used to be their quarters filled with various relics instead. Finally she went to an uncharted mysterious Island with five members of the ship's crew but only she returned with a mysterious chest, It was during this she gained her scar on the right side of her face running from forehead to her cheek, her eye reduced to a milky-white orb within its socket. After the incident records of the captain disappeared. The Forsworn docked at Clockers Cove on Khadoven 16th of that same year hired additional crew and laborers in Clockers Cove, and left two days later. A large smuggled shipment of cargo left Clockers Cove by land the day after The Forsworn’s arrival, suggesting Zerkova had shipped her plunder to her fellow Greylords before continuing on the next stretch of her expedition. The Forsworn was later discovered shipwrecked north of Deadsands Bay along the coast of the Protectorate of Menoth close to Acrennia. Evidence suggests that Zerkova discovered the remains of Scion Nivara’s tower, a structure destroyed during her ascension, deep within the northwestern mountains of Cygnar as well as one of the scion’s original puzzle boxes, said to have aided in the development of the first cerebral matrix, precursor to the modern cortex. She also led a small expeditionary force into Sul during its war with Caspia, using the conflict as an opportunity to gain access to further secrets. After more than a decade of expeditions abroad and brief periods of military service, Zerkova was ordered to return home for Khador’s opening push into Llael. During which she proposed the strike on the Fraternal Order of Wizardry lodge in Merywyn. The Fraternal Order of Wizardry would have bolstered the defensive capabilities of Merywyn considerably. While the ranking Khadoran officers and strategists considered the assault to have a low probability of success, they hoped to inflict some degree of damage to the order of arcanists prior to marching their forces into Llael’s capital. The results were far more impressive, and more frightening, than any of them might have imagined. What transpired would become known as "The Night of Howling Wolves" Zerkova’s assault eradicated the order’s presence in Merywyn to the man. From outside, the headquarters of the Fraternal Order of Wizardry appears untouched with doors and windows intact but of the lodge interior, little remains. Entire floors have been turned to ash while others reveal floorboards warped by concentrated magic. An unnatural frost lingers in places. No human remains or a single trace of their existence can be found despite the entire Order presence believed to have been perished. Howls were heard during the incident which were dismissed as the calls of wolves. The door barring access to the collection of the most potent and valuable items was reduced to twisted metal and the entirety of its contents gone, some kept by Zerkova for her personal use. Koldun Kommander Aleksandra Zerkova Zerkova received a promotion to koldun as word of her efforts in Merywyn spread quickly expandeding her influence within the Greylords Covenant, and her reputation afforded her leeway with ranking military officers as well. By this time, Aeniv Rolonovik had been promoted to obavnik and had acquired the title of great prince, placing him in charge of both the Khardoska Volosk and the Greylords Covenant chapter in Khardov. Through Rolonovik’s influence, Zerkova sidestepped many regulations and mandates that might have otherwise slowed her research. Having returned with powerful and unique artifacts from abroad, she had also cultivated the favor of High Obavnik Arbiter Vasily Dmitrilosk, head of the entire Greylords Covenant. On the night of Octesh 25th, 607 AR, a small Cryxian force attacked the Katrinska Cathedral deep within the heart of Korsk. A contingent of Precursor Knights had been sent to the cathedral from the Sancteum on the orders of Primarch Arius himself to defend the elders of the Nyss refugees and any sacred artifacts brought with them. The Precursor Knights were murdered in the attack, their heads stacked upon the stairs. Zerkova had been assigned guard duty at the nearby Stanislov Palace and was the first to respond to the alarm. The Cryxians were slain and the cathedral secured. Zerkova's Greylords covertly executed the the remaining Morrowan priests and Nyss refugees and their sacred relics. Only the most highly ranked among the Covenant were aware that Aleksandra one of these is the slumbering elven god Nyssor and this resulted in the Retribution of Scryah launching several attacks in Khador.Forces of Warmachine: Khador Mk2 One such attack resulted in the death of Koldun Vorezko Makovich who was investigating Zerkova and later the Retribution attacked Fort Brenzig and later a secret Greylord base Skirov which also attacked by Cryx and resulted in the loss of Nyssor. She entered into an alliance with the Eldritch warcaster Goreshade in a failed attempt to recover the frozen Nyss vault, which the Retribution of Scyrah had secured and returned to Ios. This demonstrates the lengths she is willing to go for knowledge—even to the point of provoking hostilities with foreign powers without regard for the plans of the empire or the desires of her superiors. Obavnik Kommander Zerkova Despite increased scrutiny from organizations responsible for internal security, such as the Greylords own Prikaz Chancellery, Zerkova has continued to consolidate her position, establishing undisclosed bases of operation throughout Khador and occupied Llael. While Prikaz agents have dogged her footsteps for years, on the trail of budgetary irregularities, Zerkova’s intricate and deeply rooted network of informants has kept her several paces ahead. Zerkova has been aided by the support of High Obavnik Arbiter Vasily Dmitrilosk, the head of the Greylords Covenant. The high obavnik clearly finds Zerkova’s research invaluable and prizes her successes above the questionable nature of her methods. He, too, seeks to empower the Motherland by delving into dark mysteries. Her recent promotion to the rank of obavnik has placed her beyond the reach of nearly all detractors, and the work she once conducted in secret is now practically beyond reproach. Her affiliations with those in power have always served her well, and she has recently gained the ear of the Empress herself, occasionally serving as a bodyguard and advisor on occult matters.Warmachine: Reckoning As her reputation has grown, so has the degree of fear she inspires in her fellow Greylords. More than a few of Zerkova’s detractors have disappeared without a trace, and those who were once highly vocal in their assertions of wrongdoing have grown strangely quiet. It has not gone unnoticed that many of her subordinates have also met untimely ends. Nevertheless, those who desire to plumb the mysteries of the occult continue to seek her patronage and serve her with zealous devotion. With her promotion, Zerkova’s quest for power has only gained momentum. Those elements of her private collection once kept behind closed doors are now on public display. From forbidden relics to an entourage of guardians enslaved to her will, her open display of occult power has overshadowed the reputation of her ancestors. References Category:Warmachine Category:Khador Category:Warcaster Category:Humans